A car or pickup truck will need regular maintenance and upkeep to stay in good shape, and this ranges from rotating the tires to changing the oil filter to pounding out dents in the body. If a car suffers hail damage or a scrape on the road, for example, the owner can take that car to an auto body repair shop and ask crews there to fix it. Auto body shops may remove pieces of the car’s body and pound out dents from the other side, and they might even replace the windshield or apply fresh paint to the car. A dedicated car paint shop is a fine place to touch up the car’s paint, and at an auto paint shop, the staff may approximate the car’s paint color and patch up any scrapes or bare patches on the car’s body. That, or a car owner might not even need an auto paint shop, and take care of paint work themselves. How might that work?
Visiting a Paint Shop
All cars and pickup trucks come with a fresh coat of paint, and not just for aesthetics. That car’s paint and glossy outer finish act as a sort of skin for the car, protecting its metal body from the elements. What might damage the paint? Aside from old age, which wears out the paint job, a car may lose some paint after it scrapes against another car or object on the road. Tree branches might fall on the car and scratch up its paint, or vandalism may damage the paint job. Vandals have been known to “key” a car, or drag a car key or other object across the car’s body to put ugly scratches on its body. After a scrape, a car may have a patch of paint missing, exposing bare metal. That’s not good.
To fix this, the car’s owner may find and visit an auto paint shop, and as the crews there to touch up the paint. The price may vary, based on the location of the damage and the extent of it, and such work can be done on the hood, trunk, doors, or anywhere else. The staff may approximate the car’s paint color with paints they have on stock, and apply it, along with sealant to finish the job.
If desired, a car owner can repaint their car all on their own. This means opening the hood and checking the barrier between the engine compartment and the passenger compartment. On that barrier, they can find a sticker with the color code for that car’s paint, and use that as reference when ordering paint online. Once that paint arrives, the owner may sand off the affected area, apply primer and allow it to dry, then apply a few layers of paint. Once that dries, the owner may put on sealant to finish the job, and allow that to dry for a day or two. Now the car’s paint coat is seamlessly fixed, and that can help prevent the bare metal from rusting. Not only do bare patches look unsightly, but exposed car metal is prone to rust and other corrosion.
Dents
A minor collision on the road may put dents on a car’s body, and dents may also appear if sufficiently large hail strikes the car. Small hail won’t cause damage, but pieces the size of golf balls or bigger may put many dents on the car’s roof, hood, and trunk. Not only that, but vandalism may create dents as well, when a vandal throws objects at the car or strikes it with a tire iron or other instrument. The problem with car dents is not only that it’s very unattractive, but those dents disrupt the car’s aerodynamic qualities. That, and dents may reduce a car’s resale price. A car on an auto lot, for example, can be bought more cheaply if it has visible hail damage.
At an auto repair shop, crews can remove pieces of the car’s body, trunk to hood, and pound out the dents from the other side and thus remove them. This can also be done for the rims which, being made of soft aluminum, may be prone to dents and other damage. Dent repair might go hand in hand with touching up paint, too.
